Hunting High and Low
by THE Brandon Brownson
Summary: When a mysterious stranger in a black leather duster answers an ad in the paper, the most epic band in the history of epic bands is formed. I know, crappy summary. Rated T for A-Smokin', A-Drinkin', A-Hootin'-and-hollerin'-curses, maybe A-Violence and A-Sexual-Stuff
1. Chapter 1

A heavy rain befell Rockport, the heaviest of the year, crashing down on the roof of Tommy's car. He sat in the driveway, working away the last few drags of a cigarette, looking at the house before him. Kind of run down, chips in the paint, rust on the siding, a few shingles missing off the roof… kind of place Tommy could get used to. He reached in his pocket to grab on to his lucky guitar pick; a thin, white pick with a giant red Anarchy symbol on it. He clutched onto it for good luck, closing his eyes, holding in the last hit of a cigarette, getting his mind in the zone. When his eyes open and he released the smoke that were moments ago floating around in his lungs, he knew it was time

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

"I'm grabbing a beer."

"You wanna grab me one while your up?"

"Fuck you, Johnny, get your own fucking beer!"

"Dude, you're already up, though?"

"Do I really look like a slave? What, just because I'm a woman…"

"Johnny, Casey, shut the hell up! I'll grab you some damn beers!"

"You're too kind, Axel."

"Piss off, snot head!"

Axel peeled himself off the couch, a few potato chips falling from his chest, onto the ground, as he walked into the kitchen. He threw the refrigerator door open to find that there were only three beers left in the fridge.

"Hey, someone better make a beer run before this storm gets bad!"

"It's already bad. Have you even LOOKED outsi…"

*Knock knock knock*

Axel looked over toward the door and groaned, figuring it was the land lord to bitch some more. "The rent's overdue, you gotta paint out here, what's that stain?" Axel mumbled to himself. "Man, if I wasn't living in that jack off's house…"

However, when he opened the door, there was no landlord to be seen. No, instead what he saw was a guy with a guitar case in his hand. The guy was maybe a few inches shorter than Axel (And Axel was 6'4), with soaking black hair that hung to his shoulders, and just beyond his eyes (Had kind of a Ramones thing goin' on). He wore a black leather duster, with a black T-shirt under it, as well as some torn up blue jeans and a pair of wrecked black converse.

"You put an ad in the paper for a guitarist?" The guy asked in a low, somewhat gravely voice.

"Yeah, that would be us."

"You wanna let me in? I don't wanna drown before my audition."

Axel got a good laugh before letting the dude in. He walked with a slight limp in his right leg, which Axel thought was a little off- He looked way too young to be having leg issues. As the guy stepped into the light, Axel could notice a hell of a 5 o' clock shadow on the auditioner.

"Who was that," Johnny yelled out in a thick, VERY British accent, "and where's my beer?"

"The beer can wait, we got someone who answered our ad!"

Johnny leapt off the couch and walked to the other room, where he saw some bloke peeling off a wet leather duster, what he assumed to be his guitar case leaning against the wall. Johnny nodded in approval at some of the stickers he had slapped on his case; The Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, Black Flag, The Bad Brains, Green Day, The Dead Milkmen, Anti-Flag… and he had a bunch of other stickers from other genre's Johnny didn't enjoy as much, but it was nice seeing that he had an interest in such a wide range of music.

"Alright, love," Johnny said, "what's your name, then?"

"Name's Tommy," the guy said, "Tommy Jaxon."

"Alright, Tommy, and what ya play?"

"What do you need?"

"That's the kinda answer I was peepin' for" Johnny said, a tiny smile creeping up on his face. "Alright, why don't you pull out your axe and play a little something."

"Got an amp? I wasn't about to wreck my gear in the rain."

"Yeah, sure, right there." He said, pointing to the corner. Johnny turned around. "Hey, Casey, get over hear and check this guy with us."

"Yeah, yeah." Casey got up, stopping in the kitchen to grab her beer before stepping in the jam room. He saw the auditioner plugging his guitar into the amp… not a bad instrument; black Gibson SG, little skinnier than most, which she assumed was to make it more light weight. She took a good look at the guy. "The fuck you think you are with hair like that? A Ramone?"

"Funny. I can't tell if you're trying to be goth or punk or what the fuck you are, but nice to know that you feel comfortable talking shit about my look." The guy had a snarky smile on his face. Casey liked that. Dude had attitude, and she was tired of being the only edgy one.

"Alright then, smart ass, let's here you play." Casey said, returning the snarky smile. This caused Tommy to actually smile, revealing a killer smile consisting of 32 perfectly white pearls.

The mood quickly changed as Tommy began to strum away, playing a very Swedish sounding riff. The other three nodded in approval, but where blown away when they heard him open his mouth and start belting out lyrics.

_I feel the wind in my hair  
It is whispering, telling me things  
Of a storm that is gathering near  
Full of power, I'm spreading my wings_

Now I'm leaving my worries behind  
Feel the freedom of body and mind  
I am starting my journey  
I'm drifting away with the wind  
I go

I am hunting high and low  
Diving from the sky above  
Looking for, more and more, once again  
I am hunting high and low  
Sometimes I may win, sometimes I'll lose  
It's just a game that I play

Tommy's song went on for a little over four minutes, featuring a basic, but effective solo. What really blew the other three away was not just the killer riff that Tommy presented them with, but the fact that he had a near angelic voice, able to hit high notes that none of them could even think of trying. When Tommy finished, he simply looked up at the three with a "So?" look in his eyes.

"Fuck, I dig it!" Axel was the first to say.

"Yeah, that was pretty good!" Johnny went on to agree. The two looked at Casey, who shrugged.

"Wasn't bad, I guess."

"So, am I in or what?" Tommy asked. The two guys looked at Casey, who thought for a moment before speaking.

"Tell you what; that was a good track, but we need to see how you mesh with the three of us. I'm not going to risk losing power in this storm, but why don't you stop by tomorrow around 5."

Tommy nodded. "I'll be here." Tommy packed his guitar up and had one foot out the door before he heard Axel.

"Oh, and Tommy!"

"Yeah?"

"Bring a case of beer!"

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

There's chapter 1. Just to clarify, in my little world, here, all songs will be created and performed by Guitar Hero characters and their respective bands. That said, I don't own any of the songs (No shit!). The song that appeared here was a track called "Hunting High And Low" by Stratovarius. Epic shit, worth checking out!


	2. Chapter 2

"Man, where the hell is this guy?" Axel grunted from behind his drum set, having just finished a quick jam with the band.

"Relax, sunshine," Johnny said, "I'm sure he'll be here soon. Then we can actually start practice!"

"Dude, forget practice! I just want a damn beer!"

"…and you wonder where you got that gut-ski, Axel!"

"Piss off, Princess!"

It was at that time that Tommy limped in, his guitar case in one hand and a 24 pack of beer in the other. He set the beer down on a table that was in the jam room before looking up at the group.

"Sorry I'm a little bit late," Tommy said in his gravelly voice, "traffic was a bitch. Anybody mind helping me grab my amp?"

"Axel, can you…"

"BEER!"

"AXEL!" Casey shouted out "You can have a beer after you help Tommy with his gear!"

"Fine, fine!" Axel grunted before walking outside to help Tommy bring his stuff in. He had a killer Marshall half stack with a Dimebag head to go with it, and a back pack which he assumed (and he assumed right) contained his pedals. Tommy set up, then turned to Casey.

"So, what are we playing?"

"Well," Casey started, "we figured that we'd start off with a couple of cover tunes before we did any original stuff, see how well you mesh with us. You've listened to the Winstons before, right?"

"Listened to em?" Tommy chuckled "The Winstons are probably the closest thing I have to Religion!"

"Well then, just try to keep up, and you'll do fine. You wanna cover vocals, too?"

"I could do that."

"Hang on just a second, you guys!" Axel said. He grabbed a beer and chugged it as if he had spent the past week in a desert. "Okay, let's get started!"

xoxoxoxoxo

_I know a thing or two about her  
I know she'll only make you cry  
She'll let you walk the street beside her  
But when she wants, she'll pass you by_

Everybody says she's lookin' good  
And the lady knows it's understood  
Strutter  
Strutter  
Strutter

The group finished up the song, and each grabbed a beer afterward. They'd been jamming old Winston songs for well over an hour by this point, and they needed a well-deserved rest.

"Tommy, your playing is simply Ace, mate!" Johnny said, a wide smile painted across his face.

"Thanks." Tommy said, taking a drink of his beer afterward.

"Yeah, man, that was fucking killer!" Axel barked out. The two looked over to Casey who simply shrugged and said "Yeah, he's okay."

"So, let's not beat around the bush anymore, am I in or not."

Johnny and Axel looked over to Casey with a hopeful look in their eye. Casey thought it over for a second before looking up at the Guitar-Hopeful.

"Yeah, you're in!"

"YES!" Axel barked out before smashing the rest of his beer.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

Song used was "Strutter" by Kiss. Kind of a weak chapter, I guess, but I just wanted to get Tommy officially in the band before we really started getting down and dirty with the story.


End file.
